Tuesday Dolphins Talking Points: Difficult decisions await

Today is the first cutdown day for NFL teams, but it’s no big deal in Miami. Teams that opened camp a month ago with 80 players now have to be down to 75, and the Dolphins are already at 74 after giving tight end Joey Haynos the waived/injured treatment Monday. But the tough cuts are only days away; teams have to get to 53 by Saturday, and that’s where we starting our Tuesday talking points:

1. The Dolphins’ braintrust faces some difficult decisions later this week.

If getting to 75 players isn’t difficult, getting from there to 53 is never easy, and the triumvirate of Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano will face some tough decisions by Saturday’s cutdown day.

Do they keep Will Allen? Almost certainly. How about Nate Garner? That’s tougher considering the competition on the offensive line and the uncertainty of how long he’ll be out. Other tough decisions have to be made at wide receiver, linebacker and defensive line.

Thursday’s game at Dallas will certainly be make-or-break for a number of guys, and it’s really impossible to even predict what will happen until after that. No matter how much the regulars play – and it probably won’t be much – the real crunch time in that game when be when the fringe players are on the field.

2. The starters from both teams may get more playing time than usual Thursday night.

Both Dallas and Miami are coming off stinkers in what was supposed to be the showcase game for their starters. We saw what the Dolphins did in their 16-6 home loss to Atlanta; Dallas looked even worse in front of a national TV audience in its 23-7 loss at Houston. Both coaches have said they’re inclined to play their regulars more as a result of those performances.

It certainly wouldn’t be a bad idea from Sparano’s vantage point. There’s nothing like game conditions to approximate how areas such as the running game and pass protection are faring. And it certainly would be good for the starters’ confidence to have them go out and move the ball with some efficiency after so badly failing in that regard against the Falcons.

3. The 53 survivors of the final cuts are looking at a much-deserved three-day weekend.

Once the team returns from Dallas early Friday morning, players are not expected to have anything formally scheduled until they report back on Monday morning to begin preparations for the opener. After five weeks of hard, hot, sweaty work, they’ve earned the break.

You can bet few of them will approach it that way. Many if not most of the linemen will be in lifting weights, the defensive backs will be studying film, the quarterbacks will be starting to put together the Buffalo game plan. Still, it’s a nice little break that every NFL team will have (all 32 teams finish their preseason Thursday) before they get down to the serious work of the 16-game season.